Professionals in the office furniture industry customarily utilize various types of computer-based, graphics software to facilitate the design and layout of office space. The graphics software automates the design and specification process, thereby allowing a user to create large scale drawings on a computer screen that, in addition to assisting with layout, may also be used in the pricing of the project. Typically, the graphics software incorporates a computer-aided design (hereinafter “CAD”) program that enables users to design the office space on the computer screen. In order to enhance the functionality of the CAD program, various add-on modules have been developed. For example, these add-on modules allow the user to view a design from any angle and to zoom in or pan out for close-ups and long-distance views of the design. In addition, these add-on modules may keep track of various design dependencies so that when the user changes the value of one or more design criteria, the values of all the other design criteria that depend upon the changed criteria are automatically changed.
While functional for their intended purpose, these prior graphics software packages have significant drawbacks that limit their usefulness to the office furniture professional. For example, in the furniture industry, the add-on modules are menu driven. As such, in operation, the designer must input the dimensions of the office space being designed. Thereafter, the designer is lead through a series of menus similar to paging through a catalog until the designer arrives at a desired product. Once the desired product is located, the designer selects the desired product and the product is displayed on the computer screen. The designer must then manually position the selected product at a desired location in the office space displayed on the computer screen. The process is repeated until the design of the office space is completed. It can be appreciated that the process is not only time consuming, but requires the designer to have extensive knowledge of the product line of an office furniture supplier in order to complete a valid design.